


You Should Never Be The One Getting Hurt

by skimmonslab



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Skimmons - Fandom
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-12
Updated: 2014-12-12
Packaged: 2018-03-01 03:29:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,367
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2757896
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/skimmonslab/pseuds/skimmonslab
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is based on a prompt the lovely kuramachakra (http://kuramachakra.tumblr.com/) asked for ages ago (I’m really sorry about that), where Jemma is the one that gets hurt and Skye freaks out. It got a bit out of hand…</p>
            </blockquote>





	You Should Never Be The One Getting Hurt

"Why was she out there?!" Skye marches into the lab, the door hissing to announce her presence, and she yells at Coulson, startling the whole team gathered there. Jemma is perched on one of the metal tables and May is stitching up a nasty gash on her temple that has left the right side of her face marred in blood. ‘’I told you she shouldn’t be in the field for this mission!’’

"Skye, honestly, it’s nothing to worry about. Just a flesh wound. Nothing major." Jemma tries to dispel the hostile energy in the room with her bubbly voice and smile, trying to brush the whole incident aside, but Skye whirls around, her expression tense and eyes frenzy.

"Nothing to worry about?!" She spits out and Jemma flinches because she’s rarely seen Skye angry, but every time she reminded Jemma of a raging storm.

"That’s a flesh wound from a bullet Jemma! A bullet, that if it veered an inch to the left, would’ve blown your brains out! That is not ‘nothing to worry about’!"

"Skye, calm down-" Coulson starts.

"She was not supposed to be out there! Her expertise was not needed and you put her in unnecessary danger!" She yells again, glaring at Coulson, feeling the heat in her cheeks and the blood pounding in her ears.

In the back of her mind she knows she’s being unreasonable and a jackass, but she can’t contain herself. The panic and gut wrenching fear she felt when she heard the gunshot and saw Jemma’s head jerk back violently are still boiling in the pit of her stomach. She quickly realized that there was essentially no way she could stop that from happening again in the future, and that fear morphed into anger. Not at Coulson, but at their whole lives. There was no guarantee when they woke up in the morning that Skye would get to go to bed with a warm, pink-cheeked and unscathed Jemma that same night. And it made her feel desperately helpless.

"That’s enough!" May hisses, her voice dangerously low, as she continues stitching up Jemma’s head. "We all knew what we signed up for with this job. Simmons knows the risks. You should remember them too."

"That is bullshit! You’re sending people who are not cleared for combat into clearly hostile settings! That has nothing to do with what we signed up for!"

‘’Skye, please… Stop it.’’ It’s Jemma’s voice pleading with her this time and it’s the only one that gets her to stop and think. She looks up to see the tense and anxious look on Jemma’s face, her warm, hazel eyes begging her to calm down, stop before she outs them and simultaneously proves to the team that they can’t keep their private and professional lives separate.

The paleness of Jemma’s skin is killing her, the blood loss and shock she experienced bleaching the blush from her usually rosy cheeks, and since stepping into the lab Skye only wants to pounce on Jemma, make sure she’s not hurt and then curl herself around her so no one can ever hurt her again.

But she can’t, so she grabs the edge of the table on which Jemma is still sitting and exhales loudly, trying to calm down, even though they both know that the most effective method to calm Skye down includes Jemma’s breath on her skin. Skye watches as May finishes her work and tapes a thin gauze to Jemma’s forehead, her fingers itching to grab onto her girlfriend, even if means just a light touch over numerous layers of clothes.

 

The loud snap of Coulson’s fingers next to her ear startles her and his grave tone when he says ‘’My office. Now.’’ makes it clear that he’s pissed. He stomps out of the lab and up the stairs, expecting Skye to follow him, and goddamn it, he always makes her feel like a petulant teenager that’s about to get grounded.

‘’Shit.’’ Skye mumbles as she hands over the bulletproof vest and the rest of her equipment to Fitz before looking over at Jemma, whose brow is furrowed in bewilderment, and Skye knows she’ll have to explain everything about her angry outburst once they’re alone.

****

Sure enough, once she leaves Coulson’s office after a lengthy lecture, Skye feels like she just got grounded for the next two months.

She’s tired and exhausted from today’s mission and the ribbing Coulson gave her, and the only thing she wants right now is to go get a shower, rinse all the dirt and sweat and blood from her skin and then go find Jemma, who hopefully won’t be in the mood for anything else but cuddling and sleeping for the next two days.

 

But once she enters her bunk to get her things, Jemma is sitting on her bed, clearly waiting for her and Skye immediately deflates, all the tension rushing out of her body, even though she can tell Jemma will be asking questions.

‘’How are you feeling?’’ she asks as she slides the door closed and takes the small step so she can stand in front of the girl waiting for her. Her hands immediately cup Jemma’s cheeks, rubbing her thumbs gently over her cheekbones.

‘’I’m fine, darling. May took care of me and there is nothing to worry about. It’s just a cut.’’

‘’Jems-‘’

‘’Hey, stop that.’’ Jemma interrupts, her fingers sliding under Skye’s shirt and gripping her hips, just above the waistband of her pants. ‘’I’m here and I’m fine. Yes, it could’ve been much, much worse, I know that better than anyone, but it wasn’t. So, there’s no point on dwelling on what could’ve been.’’

She gives Skye a poignant look, as if saying ‘Deal?’.

Skye huffs, but nods reluctantly, before leaning down to press a kiss right under Jemma’s eye.

‘’Now, what did Coulson say?’’

‘’He…… I blew it today. Even if he was suspecting it before, it became crystal clear today. He told me that he knows something’s going on between us and that he doesn’t have a problem with it as long as it doesn’t affect our work. Which he isn’t sure we can do, because of… well… me being a jackass today.’’

‘’Oh dear.’’

‘’But he’ll let it slide this time. You know- first strike and all that.’’

‘’Well, we better be reasonable from now on.’’

Skye hums in response and leans down again to brush her lips against Jemma’s forehead and temple.

‘’Do I have to ask or will you just tell me?’’ Jemma says quietly, giving Skye’s hips a light squeeze.

‘’Tell you what?’’ Skye asks straightening up.

‘’Clearly I have to ask then. What had gotten into you today? The way you went off at Coulson, just because I got hurt, and what you said… It’s like you realized for the first time today I’m not cleared for fieldwork and that we can get killed.’’

‘’Jems…’’ Skye sighs, pinching the bridge of her nose, ‘’Can we please do this later, after I get a shower, or even tomorrow? Preferably tomorrow?’’

‘’No. There’s something behind all of this and I think you need to talk. Why was it such an issue that I got hurt today? It can’t be just because it was a close call, can it? We’ve had a number of those before.’’

 

Skye untangles herself from Jemma and takes a step back to lean against the small desk in the pod, her fingers crossing behind her neck. She struggles to put everything into words. She never had to voice her feelings before, no one ever made her do it, until Jemma. Jemma, who can read her like a book and who makes her think about everything that’s going through her mind and analyze everything she’s feeling. Before, Skye used to push it all down and allowed the feelings to simmer, until she couldn’t stand it anymore and would just end up doing something impulsive. Like today.

But here comes Jemma again, demanding that she comes clean and lets it all out.

‘’You’re Jemma Simmons.’’ Skye deadpans, her fingers still crossed behind her neck.

Jemma scrunches her nose in confusion.

‘’You’re Jemma Simmons and you’re not supposed to get hurt. You don’t get to be in harm’s way. No one’s supposed to yell at you or offend you in any way, let alone lay a finger on you or hurt you, because you don’t deserve it. All of us here- okay, maybe not Fitz exactly- but we’ve done things, bad things, and we wouldn’t think twice about doing them again, but you… You haven’t and you’d never do them. You’re too kindhearted and nice and smart and delicate and you should never cry or be sad.’’

‘’Well that’s just-‘’

‘’Let me finish.’’ Skye interrupts. ‘’You’re not used to it. You’re not used to enduring pain or having people want to hurt you. Your whole life you’ve been loved and cared for and people have only protected you, whether it was your parents or Fitz or your professors at the Academy. And I don’t want that to ever change! I don’t want you crossing over into this world, MY world, where people are mean and evil and don’t think twice about hurting someone so innocent and pure just because they’re in the way. This is the world I live in, the world I’ve **always lived in** and I don’t want you getting acquainted with it. With me, whatever they do to me, it’ll just roll off my back, because it’s what I’m used to. It’s what I do and I didn’t expect anything better anyway, but with you… It stays with you. I can see it. You keep trying to understand why would anyone want to harm other people, and it stays with you. It leaves a mark and it actually hurts you.’’

‘’That is-’’ Jemma takes a deep breath, her fingers clenching and unclenching as they grip the mattress. ‘’- quite condescending.’’

‘’What? No, no, that’s not what I was going for. At all.’’

‘’Essentially what you said is that, you’re tough and I’m not, and you should be the one at the front lines, getting hurt, because I’m too precious and I should just hide in my little lab and be oblivious to what is happening in the big bad world.’’

‘’No, Jem, honey, no, that is sooo not what I was saying.’’

‘’Well, what was it then?!’’ Jemma asks, voice high-pitched.

‘’I’ve been through it all!’’ Skye suddenly shouts. ‘’Every sort of emotional and physical pain, every sort of disappointment- I’ve experienced it and I know how it all feels. I’m accustomed to it and I don’t want you ever knowing those feelings because you- **YOU** \- are the only reason I still believe there’s good in this world. I don’t want you getting used to all of that and I need you to stay the way you are- kind and polite and innocent. Every morning I wake up to your big smile and excited eyes, it makes me believe that there’s a point to risking our lives. I need you to keep my faith and hope alive and if the price I have to pay for that is being at the receiving end of all the bullets and punches thrown your way- I’ll gladly accept that.’’

‘’Skye…’’ Jemma breathes as she stares at her, taken aback.

‘’And today- hearing the gun go off and seeing you fall back, there were a few seconds, just a few moments when I thought you were dead, that it was a clear headshot, and I swear to you my heart stopped. Physically stopped. It just reminded me that I need to protect you at all costs, because if I lose you I know I’ll lose myself and any hope I have left. I know it’s corny and dramatic, but I seriously don’t think I’d be able to live without you. There’d be nothing to live for. It’s selfish and stupid, but I’d rather die first than have to endure the pain of losing you.’’ Skye admits.

Her words hang in the air for a heartbeat and she barely has the time to look up before the bed springs make a violent noise and Jemma is on her, her arms around Skye’s neck, frantically whispering ‘I love you, I love you’ against Skye’s lips, over and over again. She says it between chaste pecks and longer, open mouthed kisses which fire up Skye’s insides and make her pull Jemma impossibly closer, arms locked around her waist.

Despite all her degrees and all her big words, they’re no good when Jemma wants to express her feelings. It just ends up being more incoherent rambling that can never convey what she’s really feeling, so she’s given up on words when it comes to showing Skye how much she loves her. Instead, she tries to show her by kissing her until they’re both out of breath and until she’s sure Skye understands just how desperate she is and that no matter how close they are, bodies intertwined, inhaling each other, it’s never enough.

Jemma slides her hands under Skye’s shirt and gently starts tugging it up, needing more warm and smooth skin, but Skye grabs her wrists, reluctantly breaking off the kiss, and leans her forehead against Jemma’s with a heavy sigh. ‘’I need to shower first. I’m still covered in dirt and sweat and blood.’’

They’re still so close, she feels Jemma’s lips brush against hers when she whispers, all seductive and husky: ‘’What are we waiting for then, darling?’’, and momentarily shuts down Skye’s higher brain functions.

She can’t do anything but follow Jemma out of the pod like a puppet, when the shorter girl pulls her towards the showers.

 

A bit later, when Skye has Jemma pressed against the shower wall, the warm water cascading down her back as she struggles to hold Jemma’s thigh on her hip and keep the steady rhythm of her fingers, it’s clear they’ve stopped hiding. They’re loud and careless, soft whimpers and moans echo off the tiled walls and fill the small space.

Nudging Jemma’s cheek with her nose, Skye makes her lift her head up from her shoulder so that she can kiss her, but stops to stare because there’s nothing more breathtaking than an aroused, unhinged Dr. Simmons.  Her lips are swollen and red, droplets of water dangling from her long eyelashes and a distinct flush, which only Skye gets to see, covers her cheeks, neck and spreads all the way down to her chest.

 ‘’You’re too pretty for scars. Too damn pretty.’’ Skye whispers before taking her mouth, enjoying the desperate sound Jemma makes and the way her fingers tangle in Skye’s hair and pull.

She wants to tell her how her soft, full lips should only ever be kissed and how they look like they shouldn’t ever be marred by anything more forceful than a tug of teeth; and how sometimes Skye is afraid she’ll bruise and break her perfect, porcelain skin, if she grips her thighs and hips too hard while trying to keep Jemma’s body from bucking off the bed and trying to stop her from suffocating her with her thighs.

But Jemma is stiffening against her, mewling into her mouth, and Skye can’t, for the life of her remember what is it she wanted to say, because nothing is more important than prolonging the way the girl in her arms is shuddering and arching.

Jemma slumps against her, mouth open on Skye’s shoulder as she struggles to breathe and her hands lazily grip Skye’s arms. They stay like that, gently swaying in the shower, Skye whispering into Jemma’s ear until her legs start cooperating again and the water turns lukewarm.

 

‘’We should leave.’’ Jemma says quietly.

‘’Yeah, the water’s turning cold anyway.’’

Skye starts moving away, but Jemma’s next words stop her in her tracks. ‘’I didn’t mean the shower.’’  

‘’What did you mean?’’

‘’The Bus.’’ She says, almost wincing as she answers.

‘’The Bus?’’ Skye repeats, eyebrows almost disappearing into her hair. ‘’As in our Bus? As in leaving our team?’’

‘’No- not the team. We don’t necessarily have to leave them, and God knows Fitz will come with us wherever we go, but just leave the Bus. Substitute this line of work for something safer, something where we won’t get shot at on a daily basis. ‘’

‘’What are you suggesting exactly?’’ Skye asks, afraid and excited at the same time.

‘’There are jobs waiting for us at the Academy. We can transfer there and-‘’

‘’Jemma, there are jobs for you and Fitz at the Academy, and that’s great, but I’m-‘’

‘’No, for all of us! Think about it, Skye. Stark is the new director of S.H.I.E.L.D.  and he’s rebuilding the organization in line with his own vision. Someone like you almost embodies that vision. You’ll have a job wherever you go, and after the losses we’ve suffered they’d need someone like you at the Academy. What with your skills and experience and all.’’

Skye shuts off the water and rubs her brow in confusion. ‘’So, what? We settle down, get a small apartment on campus? Bye-bye craziest show on Earth?’’

Jemma takes her hands in hers. ‘’I think we’ve reached our limits. I can’t keep wondering if I’ll see you again whenever you leave for a mission and I can’t stand the thought of having to patch you up again, even if it’s a small cut. I don’t want to hide anymore. I want that small apartment, I want to hold your hand and spend Sundays in bed. I want us to have a favorite restaurant and coffee shop. It’ll still be exciting and dangerous, maybe we’ll even have to venture back into the field occasionally, but we won’t be fretting all the time. And I strongly believe Coulson and May are much more valuable to Stark and S.H.I.E.L.D. at HQ then they are here. Will you please think about it?’’

Skye gnaws at her lower lip, looking off to the side with a frown.

_This could be the solution,_ she thinks.But leaving the Bus and Coulson so abruptly, abandoning the only home and family she’s ever known- there’s no way she can do that. Not after everything they’ve been through. It’s just…not right.

She scrunches her eyes, in an attempt to clear her head and the only thing that flashes before her is Jemma’s body jerking backwards, while the sounds of the gunshot and her own panicked screams ring in her ears.

‘’Just think it over for a few days?’’ Jemma urges, squeezing their joined hands and bringing Skye back.

‘’I don’t have to.’’ Skye abruptly answers.

‘’Please? I know you love being a field agent, bu-‘’

‘’I don’t have to, because I agree. I agree, right here and now. Not worrying about dying every day and thinking I could lose you sounds wonderful.’’ Skye grins.

‘’Really?!’’ Jemma squeals, smiling that blinding smile that makes Skye fall harder in love. She jumps onto Skye when she merely nods and starts kissing her like she did in the pod, only this time she’s repeating ‘thank you, thank you’ between kisses and Skye is laughing.

‘’Stop thanking me.’’ She says kissing back. ‘’You’re the one who has an actual plan, the only thing I did was throw a temper tantrum.’’

‘’Oh, shush, you. I’ve been thinking about this for a long time, trying to figure out a way for us to remain with S.H.I.E.L.D., but stay safe. We’ll talk to Coulson and Agent Weaver tomorrow and sort it all out.’’

‘’Sure thing, boss.’’ Skye teases. ’’There’s one thing I’m worried about, though.’’

‘’What is it?’’ Jemma asks as she reaches for a towel that’s hanging on the shower curtain.

‘’Fitz isn’t going to live with us, right? I love the guy and it’s all cool if we’re like next door neighbors, but I am not accepting this if I’ll still have to be quiet during sex and walk around wearing clothes.’’

Instead of answering, Jemma just hurls the towel at her head.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading, hope you liked it! :)


End file.
